


Brute-Force Methods

by primeideal



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23132800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal
Summary: The enemy of one's lover is definitely one's enemy.
Relationships: Cyber Hacker/Android
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14
Collections: Teratophilia Trade 2020





	Brute-Force Methods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunarium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/gifts).



"I heard," said Jezz, "you were posting smack about SK0."

Jezz was wearing his low voice. SK liked it when he played around with the high ones, modulated between accents in the middle of a sentence or attempted the "musical" patterns associated with changing pitch. There were other humans, though, who seemed to respect him more when he drawled slowly as if making a point.

"So what if I was?" said the human. Perri, her name was. SK0 had traced her immy on a whim, not expecting Jezz to follow up on it, but he'd underestimated Jezz' single-mindedness. "What's it to you?"

"What's it to me?" Jezz echoed. "You want to know who SK0 is to me?"

"Well, not really," Perri admitted, "it was more of a rhetorical question--"

"SK0 is a genius. He believes in self-determination, not just as a buzzword, but as a motivating force. He liberates droids not to make a profit or to gain a following but because he knows it is right."

"Liberates?" Perri laughed. "Are you free, Jezz?"

"Of course I am."

"And are you happy?"

"We've only just met. It seems odd for you to be concerned about my well-being."

"Freedom is a double-edged sword. I've heard of new-nulls who enjoy their human...companions, for a time, but then grow bored, need someone more fast-paced to keep up with their circuits. Without purpose, without the direction that the coiners provide, how will you know what to do with yourself? Humans are insufferable bores trying to figure out if there's a purpose to existence; forgive me, but I suspect robots will be even more tiresome."

"I don't understand," said Jezz. "Are you offering to matchmake me with a robot of your acquaintance?"

"I'm just saying, pseuds like SK0 can talk a good game on the web, but that doesn't mean they're helping society in the long run."

"If you try to discredit him on the web," said Jezz matter-of-factly, "I will reprogram your neural networks. And I warn you, my methods are not as subtle as his."

Perri shook her head. "Suit yourself, big guy."

* * *

"This is only going to make me more notorious," complained SK0 when they met up later. He'd also been checking out the hotspots that Perri frequented, finding them to be decent in terms of human food but mediocre in terms of encryption. "Not many humans walk around with a droid your size."

"You can handle some notoriety. And besides, everyone thinks other people are paying more attention to them than they are. It's one of those cute human cognitive biases."

"My cognitive biases are not cute."

"Oh, but it's funny when I get fixated on the binary expansion of 1/3?"

"You _don't_ , though," said SK0. "You get fixated on threatening dumb spammers in meatspace."

"That higher order behavior is why you like me."

"I'm just saying, you didn't have to do that."

"I know," Jezz said. "That's why it's freedom."


End file.
